L pin and plastic coated anchors for hairs, rollers and foils

ABSTRACT

Anchoring devices consisting of an L-pin, a three-loop and a multi-loop device for anchoring hairs, rollers, foils and the like and useful in hair styling, sectioning and dimensional treatment of hair by anchoring portions of hair in desired positions.

[0001] This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional ApplicationNo. 60/370,146 filed Apr. 8, 2002.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

[0002] The present invention relates to anchors for anchoring hairs,rollers, foils and so on in order to facilitate hair styling, hairdecorations and hair treatments to a closure that may be applied to avial or other container in either a child resistant configuration or anon-child resistant configuration. The anchors can be made of metals,alloys, plastics or most preferably plastic coated wires.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0003] This invention relates to devices for anchoring hairs, rollers,foils etc and are designed to take the struggle out of fighting gravitywhen hair styling. They also allow the user to gain more control whensectioning hair for dimensional coloring. One embodiment of the devicecalled the L-pin is particularly useful for holding the ends down sothat the user does not have to struggle with end papers. It also reducesfish hooks.

[0004] Salons often lose revenues performing the hair color techniquesshown in trade magazines. This is due in large part to the time involvedin securing and monitoring the foil placement on head . . . and possiblecolor correction if foil move around.

[0005] Also, conventional rollers and techniques already on market pullhair down at the scalp area creating an undesired result. Methods usedtoday require you to anchor roller by pinning roller at the scalp.Rollers are unstable and twist around. Results are never consistent. Theclients' mobility is also limited. Every time the head leans to oneside, the rollers slide down and eventually slide out. Additionally,because of the difficulties involved, most women roll their hair onlyfor special occasions. The present invention will make women want tostart rolling their hair everyday on the rollers they already on themarket.

[0006] Thus, the anchor devices of the present invention are intended toaid the hair dresser in having greater control of hairs during treatmentthan is provided by any device currently known in the art.

[0007] These anchor devices are designed for the professionalcosmetologist to perform hair color, and texture (perm and relaxers)services. The cosmetologist can also retail these products to theirclients for home use with hot rollers, Velcro rollers, spiral rollersand any other conventional rollers already on the market.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0008] The present invention is directed to an L-pin, a multi-loopanchor and a three-loop anchor designed to facilitate hair dressing andtreatment by anchoring hairs, rollers and foils to desired locationsparticularly during sectioning. Additional features and advantages ofthe invention will be set forth in the description which follows, and inpart will be apparent from the description, or may be learned bypractice of the invention. The objectives and other advantages of theinvention will be realized and attained by the apparatus particularlypointed out in the written description and claims hereof as well as inthe appended drawings.

[0009] To achieve these and other advantages and in accordance with thepurpose of the invention, as embodied and broadly described, the anchordevice of the present invention can consist of an L-pin, a three-loopanchor or a multi-loop anchor. These devices may be made of lightweightmetals, metallic alloys, or molded plastics. In one embodiment, thedevice is made preferably of plastic coated wires.

[0010] The L-pin anchor is an “L” shaped anchoring device comprising atop loop and a bottom loop with the plane of the top loop and the bottomloop offset from each other in relation to the horizontal plane with theloops ending in either a straight tail or a coiled tail. In oneembodiment of the L-pin, the top loop ends in a coiled tail and thebottom loop ends in a straight tail.

[0011] The three-loop anchoring device comprises two end loops and amiddle loop with the plane of the end loops projecting away from themiddle loop, wherein the end loops both project in the same direction.

[0012] The multi-loop anchoring device comprises semi-circular arcsoriginating from two end nodes. The semi-circular arcs are spaced apartand are preferably made of malleable material that allow spacingdepending on the styling requirements and hair placements of theindividual being treated. Arising from, and projective outwards from thesemi-circular arch are a series of semi-circular loops. In oneembodiment of the invention, the device comprises four semi-circulararcs, the semi-circular loops arising from and project outwards from themiddle arcs.

[0013] The accompanying drawings are included to provide a furtherunderstanding of the invention and are incorporated in and constitutepart of this specification, illustrate several embodiments of theinvention and together with the description serve to explain theprinciples of the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0014] In the drawings, wherein like reference numerals identify similarelements throughout several views:

[0015]FIG. 1 shows one embodiment of the multi-loop anchor in a side andtop-perspective view.

[0016]FIG. 2 shows another embodiment of the multi-loop anchor in a sideand top perspective view.

[0017]FIG. 3 shows a precursor of the three-loop anchor in itsintermediate stage.

[0018]FIG. 4 is a top view of the three-loop anchor.

[0019]FIG. 5 shows a precursor of the three-loop anchor in its initialstage.

[0020]FIG. 6 shows another perspective view of the three-loop anchor.

[0021]FIG. 7 shows an application of the multi-loop anchor in hairdressing.

[0022]FIG. 8 shows a top perspective view of the multi-loop anchor beingused in hair dressing.

[0023]FIG. 9 shows another perspective view of the multi-loop anchor inhair dressing.

[0024]FIG. 10 shows another perspective view of the multi-loop anchor inhair dressing.

[0025]FIG. 11 shows another perspective view of the multi-loop anchor inhair dressing.

[0026]FIG. 12 shows another perspective view of the multi-loop anchor inhair dressing.

[0027]FIG. 13 shows another perspective view of the multi-loop anchor inhair dressing.

[0028]FIG. 14 shows a side-perspective view of the L-pin.

[0029]FIG. 15 shows a top and side-perspective view of the L-pin.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS OF THE PRESENTINVENTION

[0030] Referring now to the drawings of the present disclosure in whichlike numbers represent the same structure in the various views, FIGS. 14and 15 refer to an L-pin anchor 10 in accordance with the presentinvention. The L-pin anchor 10 is an “L” shaped anchoring devicecomprising a top loop 12 and a bottom loop 14 with the plane of the toploop and the bottom loop offset from each other in relation to thehorizontal plane with the loops ending in either a straight tail 16 or acoiled tail 18. In one embodiment of the L-pin, the top loop 12 ends ina coiled tail 18 and the bottom loop 14 ends in a straight tail. Inanother embodiment, the top and bottom loops end in coiled loops. Theshape of the loops can vary from the circular to the elliptical,preferably circular. The size of the loops is also variable butpreferably enough to snugly hold down hair on a roller. Although theL-pin can be made of rigid materials such as metals or plastics, asemi-rigid and flexible material is preferred. In one embodiment, theL-pin is made of plastic coated wire. The gauge of the wire can alsovary. In one emdoment, the L-pin is made of six inches of 19 gauge steelwire covered with flannel material. FIG. 7 shows the L-pin 10 anchoringhair to roller and the multi-loop anchor of the present device. Thisallows hair to be rolled in a desired direction without rollers twistingaround or falling out.

[0031]FIG. 6 shows the three-loop anchoring device 30 in accordance withthe present invention. It comprises two end loops 32 and 34 and a middleloop 36. The plane of the end loops project away in the same directionfrom the middle loop. FIG. 5 shows a plastic coated wire used as thestarting material for the three-loop anchor. FIG. 4 shows anintermediate stage in the formation of the three-loop anchor 30. Likethe L-pin, the three-loop anchor may be made of any suitable material inthe art, but is preferably made of flexible plastic coated wire loop. Inone embodiment, the three-loop anchor starts of as thirty six inches ofplastic coated wire. Any wire of suitable gauge can be used. Thethree-loop anchor are particularly useful in anchoring foils and rollersfor hair styling. The angle of projection of the end loops from themiddle loops can vary from about thirty degrees to about 180 degrees,but preferably about 90 degrees. Although the loops need not be of equalsizes, a preferred embodiment is one in which the loops are of equalsizes.

[0032]FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of the multi-loop anchoring device 50.It comprises semi-circular arcs 52 originating from two end nodes 54 and56. The semicircular arcs 52 are spaced apart and are preferably made ofmalleable material that allow spacing depending on the stylingrequirements and hair placements of the individual being treated.Arising from, and projective outwards from the semi-circular arcs are aseries of semi-circular loops 58 such that the semi-circular loops donot cross-link the semi-circular arcs. In one embodiment of theinvention, the device comprises four semi-circular arcs, thesemi-circular loops 58, arising from and project outwards from the twomiddle arcs. The size of the arcs depends on the hair styling and thesize of the head but is preferably designed to cover the crown of anindividual's head.

[0033] In a typical mode of use, a quarter inch to half inch of crownsection of hair is pulled through the center of the multi-loop anchor.For weaving and coloring services, it is desirable to anchor the firstfoil or section to the multi-loop anchor in such a way that will secureand prevent it from sliding of the head. For texture services, thewrapping method may vary depending on the desired results. Basically,hair sections are pulled through the multi-loop anchor in the desireddirection. The sections are rolled in the desired method (twist, spiral,foam, Velcro, conventional rollers etc). The L-pin is then used tosecure ends to rollers and attach to the multi-loop anchor as is shownin FIGS. 7 and 9. FIGS. 10-13 illustrate other modes of using themulti-loop anchor.

[0034] It is to be understood that the anchoring devices of the presentinvention can be formed of any suitable material such as plastic ormetal or a combination of materials and the like and that the inventionis not intended to be limited by the material from which the devices areformed.

[0035] It will also be apparent to those skilled in the art that variousmodifications and variations can be made to the anchoring devices of thepresent invention without departing from the spirit or scope of theinvention. Thus, it is intended that the present invention cover themodifications and variations of this invention provided they come withinthe scope of the appended claims and their equivalents. Accordingly, theinvention is not limited by the embodiments described above which arepresented as examples only but can be modified in various ways withinthe scope of protection defined by the appended patent claims.

I claim:
 1. An anchoring device, comprising: an “L” shaped anchor havinga top loop and a bottom loop with the plane of the top loop and thebottom loop offset from each other in relation to the horizontal planewith the loops ending in either a straight tail or a coiled tail.
 2. Ananchoring device, comprising: two end loops and a middle loop, the planeof the end loops projecting in the same direction and away from themiddle loop.
 3. An anchoring device, comprising: semi-circular arcsoriginating from two end nodes, said arcs being spaced apart and havinga series of semi-circular loops projecting upwards there from withoutcross-linking said arcs, said device useful for anchoring hairs,rollers, and foils.